Over Memorial Day weekend, we took the boys to the Peoria Zoo (and Chick-Fil-A for lunch, of course!). The last time we came here was shortly after Colin was born and there was a large area that was under construction – the tigers, the walkabout, and the budgies. It was a perfect day as it wasn’t too busy and the weather wasn’t too extremely hot.
We had a pretty busy month of May leading up to Colin’s birthday. We got the boys a haircut and then visited a small train event that was taking place in Uptown Normal.
The following weekend, we went to church early on Sunday morning and were headed up to get some projects done around the house. Colin is going through a stage where he does not want to get out of the car (silly, I know). Anyway, I got him out, was holding him and closed the car door…right on his finger.
Poor kid. It had quite a slice and even needed four stitches. I certainly don’t wish this experience on anyone. He was fine if it was covered and no one wanted to look at it or touch it. They gave him a shot to numb it followed by x-rays and then time for the stitches…all at convenient care. It’s just horrible watching your son screaming for you to hold him when you are holding him down so they can stitch up his finger. He was such a trooper. He kept a bandage on it for a couple days then the stitches came out in a week. The nail fell off about six weeks later and we’re still waiting for the new nail.
Drake had his last day of pre-school for this year. We loved the Iron Kids program especially his “Big Kid Buddies” Chelsea and Claire. He will still see Chelsea next year, but Claire was a senior and graduated.
I’m WAY behind updating our blog so I am going to back date some posts since this is what I use to work on the boys scrapbooks. At the end of April, we took the boys to St. Louis for a couple nights. We stayed at the Drury Inn — highly recommend! They have a free breakfast plus a free happy hour which was basically dinner.
We drove down on a Thursday morning, got lunch and went to the Magic House.
After our time was up at the Magic House, we got checked into the hotel, swam for a bit, and then got dinner. The boys were ready for an early bedtime since they skipped naps.
On Friday morning, we hit the St. Louis Zoo. It’s free! Plus, for the first hour they are open, the Sting Ray exhibit, carousel and train are all free, too!
We spent about 5 hours at the zoo and still didn’t see everything! But, the boys needed naps. I was hoping to go to the Science Center after naps but the boys didn’t wake up in time to make it there before they closed. So, we just got dinner and then went to Ted Drewes Frozen Custard.
On Saturday morning, we took the boys to the Arch.
On our way home, we stopped to meet our friend’s newest little one – Avery.
It was a great trip with gorgeous weather. We’re planning to take the boys to Chicago later this year, too.
We had a gorgeous day for Easter this year! This was also the first year that I actually hid a “basket” for the boys. My parents sent a bucket with a few things for each one, and I had a bucket for each one so they got to find two each. I only really hid one of the baskets and Drake was freaking out that he couldn’t find it.
After their buckets and monkey bread for breakfast, we went to church with Kali, Shawn, Karen, Cody and Tim. We had lunch at home, naps, then the boys played outside with a pizza picnic in the backyard.
I managed to get a few pictures, but you can see that Drake wasn’t up for smiling. 🙂
Happy Easter all!
Trying to get these boys to sit still for a picture these days is pretty rare!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Over the past few weeks, we have gotten quite a bit of snow. The boys and I were able to go out and play in it for a little while on Monday night. We even got the sled out and went down our driveway. They had a blast!
![IMG_1390[1]](https://patterson4.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/img_13901.jpg)
![IMG_1391[1]](https://patterson4.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/img_13911.jpg)
Of course, it hit the mid 30s today and it’s starting to melt into a slushy mess. I wonder how long before it’s all gone.
For Drake’s 4-year pictures, we decided to try another photographer – Kara Knuth Photography. She was very friendly and really tried to engage with Drake. These are my favorite pictures from the morning.
We celebrated Drake’s birthday with our family and friends last Saturday. The first part of the party was a tour of our local fire station. The kids really enjoyed it, but I think the parents did, too! It was interesting to hear about their days and see where they work/live. 
  
After the fire station tour, we went back to the house for dinner, cake and presents.
I’ve seen these traditions before and thought age 4 was the best time to start. So, here is our first interview with Drake.
1. Who is your favorite person in the whole world? Colin (awe…cue the tears!)
2. What is your favorite color? red and green
3. What’s your favorite TV show? Monkey George (Curious George)
4. What’s your favorite outfit? jeans and shirt
5. What sport do you like best? soccer
6. What song do you love? ABC song
7. What’s your favorite cereal? Lucky Charms
8. Who is your best friend? teacher
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? dad
10. What is your favorite book? the Bible
11. What are you really good at? hiding (mmm…sometimes. lol!)
12. Where do you wish you could go on vacation? to a house
13. What is your best memory? I don’t know.
14. What would you buy if you had $1,000? a truck
15. What vegetable do you hate the most? apple (no,son, this is not a vegetable)
16. If you could have one wish, what would it be? truck
17. What is your favorite flavor ice cream? chocolate milk (close…)
18. Who is your biggest hero? fireman
19. What do you like to do best with your friends? I don’t know.
20. What do you hope to do before your next birthday? I don’t know.
I can’t wait to see how he will answer these same questions next year – a couple of them were hard for him to understand and his attention span was just done. 🙂
Dear Drake,
It’s hard to believe it’s been four years since you were born! You have been in pre-school since September and love it. It’s called “Iron Kids” and is at Normal Community High School. It’s only 1.5 hours twice a week, but I can tell you are learning so much.
You can pick out the letter “D” and “C” anytime you see it since they are “yours” and “Colin’s” letters, but the rest of the alphabet isn’t so lucky. 🙂 I’m sure that will change over the next 6 months to year.
Counting to eleven has been easy after reading Dr. Suess’ One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish book so many times. You can count to 20 with a little help.
You are proficient in the ABC song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and really trying to sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat without help.
You love church and reading bible stories. It’s amazing the things that you are picking up on. I cannot wait to see how your faith develops and grows over the years.
We had your 4-year well check and you weighed in at just 34 pounds (39th percentile) and were 32.75 inches tall (19th percentile). You had one shot which we weren’t expecting, and you were not very happy about it. Thankfully, the nurse was quick, and you don’t have to go back for a year.
You are wearing size 3T in all clothes, size 10 shoes and we have yet to work on night-training, but you did wake up dry once!
Watching you and Colin together is such a blessing. There are moments when you are so loving towards one another and other times when I think you are going to hurt each other. I’m guessing this is how life will be with two boys. 🙂
We love you so much and look forward to watching you grow each day!
Love,
Momma
The Patterson Family 